By Conor Ahern Law360 (October 15, 2020, 1:09 PM EDT) — In June, amid continuing national conversations about race and racism in the U.S., Microsoft Corp. announced that it was launching a diversity initiative to promote more Black employees to manager- and executive-level positions over the next five years. Presumably, Microsoft seeks to increase diversity in […]

Labor and employment Sanford Heisler Sharp is a trusted plaintiff firm that is recognized for representing employees in individual matters and class actions related to employment and gender discrimination, wage and hour violations, complex civil litigation, criminal/sexual violence litigation, ERISA litigation, and governmental fraud recovery. The firm, founded in 2004 and home to offices scattered […]

by Andrew Melzera & Whittney Barthb Protestors across the country have poured into the streets in the days and weeks following the police killings of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota and Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky, among others.1 These tragic deaths are but the latest chapter in the long struggle for racial justice and systemic reform in […]

By Brandon Lowrey Law360 (September 28, 2020, 7:41 PM EDT) — For attorneys filing gender bias lawsuits against their law firms, a difficult and almost inevitable decision awaits: Put your name on the lawsuit and invite personal and professional scrutiny, or abandon your claims. That crossroads has confounded scores of litigants over the years — […]

By Max Kutner Law360 (September 22, 2020, 6:32 PM EDT) — The Home Depot Inc. must face a $140 million class action brought in Georgia federal court on behalf of hundreds of thousands of current and former employees who claim the company enlisted 401(k) adviser firms that charged exorbitant fees and botched their investments. On […]

While a court has ruled the plan’s advisers should be carved out of the litigation, the counts against Home Depot fiduciaries will proceed. By John Manganaro The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia has ruled on a set of dismissal motions in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) lawsuit targeting Home […]

Erin Mulvaney Reporter Name: Nicole Wiitala Firm: Sanford Heisler Sharp Claim to Fame: Part of a team that secured a $14 million settlement against Dartmouth University in a lawsuit alleging that the administration didn’t protect against sexual harassment. Location: New York Age: 32 This summer, attorneys attended a final fairness hearing to approve a $14 […]

Jim Mackinnon Akron Beacon Journal The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating FirstEnergy Corp. after receiving documents from a purported whistleblower who was working with a contractor hired by the Akron utility, a federal lawsuit shows. Separately, the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio said it will review political and charitable spending by FirstEnergy and its […]

By John Caniglia, cleveland.com CLEVELAND, Ohio – The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has launched an investigation into FirstEnergy Corp. in a separate probe of the company tied to the $60 million bribery scandal involving House Bill 6, records show. The examination became public in a lawsuit the company and a consulting firm filed in […]

By Daniel Wilson Law360 (September 14, 2020, 9:07 PM EDT) — Scripps Research will pay $10 million to settle a whistleblower suit alleging it used grants from the National Institutes of Health to pay for unrelated work by its researchers, the U.S. Department of Justice announced. The settlement ends a False Claims Act lawsuit filed […]